Eating disorders in the time of COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on disordered eating behaviors in youths with type 1 diabetes: Analysis of cross-sectional survey data.

“…In terms of DEB predictors, regression analyses revealed the associations between DEBs (i.e., dieting behavior), higher zBMI [17,19,[61][62][63], and duration of illness [47], as reported by previous studies on youths with T1D.…”

“…This contradicts the general assumption that "social distancing" and isolation-creating anxiety, sadness, anger, and perception/sense of loneliness-may have a negative psychological impact [1] and even exacerbate eating disorder risks [44], further compromising individuals with psychopathological and eating problems [27,28,45,46]. Furthermore, recent evidence from Italian samples [47][48][49][50][51] describe youths with T1D as suffering from DEBs more frequently than healthy peers. In contrast, children and adolescents with T1D evaluated in this study did not show higher DEBs than controls.…”

Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: does confinement have any impact on weight variation and weight change perception?

“…Indeed, mood disorders were positively associated to weight gain: People dealing with mental health problems are much more likely to indulge in low levels of physical activity and eat poor quality of food, which result in the rise of body weight [13]. Evidence shows that in times of stress, people are more likely to seek energy food such as (sugars, fats and carbohydrates) that act like a tranquilizer to calm the stressful situation [45]. This energy food intake could be stored as body fat and can thus contribute to excess energy intake and subsequent weight gain [46].…”

“…Studies show that eating concerns are associated with the accuracy of the body weight perception [14,76,77]. During this period of uncertainty people might have more concerns about eating and they are seeking unhealthy food as a way to cope with the stressful situation [12]. People concerned about their body and eating behavior might be very conscious about their body weight [78].…”

“…There is no doubt that a change in daily life routine to a state of self-isolation exacerbates many personal problems with weight, food, and an overall relationship with one's body [7]. During these stressful times, individuals are emotionally vulnerable, and there is greater challenge and concern about body image and weight obsession leading to an overwhelming feeling that goes along other imposed daily changes [12]. In fact, people with anxiety are more affected by weight change and weight change perception [13].…”